March Madness Elite Eight Revealed

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When my colleague first mentioned the idea of doing a Battle of the Books for March Madness, I knew it would be fun. What I didn't realize was just how excited the students would become over the results. I guess when you start with 32 books that were culled from THEIR top ten lists, it makes sense that they would be invested in the outcomes, right?


Results from the Four School Challenge:

The Hobbit beat Goblet of Fire (37-23)  in a battle of might and magic!

The Lightning Thief ousted A Wrinkle in Time (39-21) - yes, our students love fantasy and science fiction!

The One and Only Ivan beat Phantom Tollbooth (38-22) - who doesn't love Ivan?

Capture the Flag over Westing Game (31-29) - my students were thrilled to see Messner win here!

Holes beat Eye of the Storm (43-17) - Understandable, but I hope more students read this marvelous near future science fiction due to this battle.

Mysterious Benedict Society over The Name of This Book is Secret (42-18) - otherwise known as the "battle of the incredibly long named books"

Strange Case of Origami Yoda beat Code Talker (32-28) - Whoo hoo! Angleberger is still in the running!

Stargirl beat Lions of Little Rock (40-20) - my fifth graders just read Stargirl and are currently reading Lions!


Results from my school:
Remember, we ended up with some different pairings in the Sweet Sixteen. I announced the results to Twitter last Friday...












Fun Results:

** The results from my school continue to diverge from the results of the Four School Challenge. I'm so glad I did it this way. It gives my students a glimpse into books that haven't caught fire in my building as well as validating their own bookish darlings. The third graders get a chance to participate, and I'm pretty sure they will insist we do this again next year.

** My amazingly dedicated Angleberger fan saw that The Name of This Book is Secret beat out his beloved Horton Halfpott. He was disappointed, but then he declared, "I guess I'd better read that book." His world continues to expand as he is exposed to books beloved by others.

** I'm already thinking of things we can do to improve this experience next year... watch out here we come!



I'm participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge, hosted by the amazing educators at Two Writing Teachers. Stop by to see what others are posting!

Also - if you stop by and comment, and you are also slicing - PLEASE feel free to include your URL in the comments. With over 200 people slicing, it is often hard to go find your specific link on the Two Writing Teachers page, and I'd love to come read YOUR slice too!

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